Phantasy Star Zero rises in NA, Europe

Sega's far-future action-RPG franchise arrives in the West on the Nintendo DS this fall.

Arguably Sega's biggest title shown at the Tokyo Game Show in October was Yakuza 3, the fourth installment in the publisher's Japanese underground crime drama. However, Sega also made room for the newest installment in its long-running Phantasy Star franchise, Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS.

Visual Chat in practice.

While the publisher was quick to date the title for a December 25 release in Japan, no mention was made of an international release. That changed today, however, as Sega officially announced that Phantasy Star Zero will be released for the DS in both Europe and North America in fall 2009.

The Western editions of Phantasy Star Zero appear to be very much the same as their Japanese counterpart. Sega said today that Phantasy Star Zero will feature an all-new storyline, one that takes place 200 years after Earth's cataclysmic doomsday war--similar to sentiments expressed to GameSpot last year. As humanity huddles away in its remaining cities, players assume the role of Hunters, whose job it is to explore the outer reaches of the wilderness.

Players will be able to choose from 14 customizable character types, selecting from three different races and a variety of different classes in the process. Sega touts the inclusion of 350 different weapons, as well as an additional range of items and armor.

Phantasy Star Zero features both local and online multiplayer modes. Notably, the game makes use of a Pictochat-style communication interface called Visual Chat. With it, players can communicate with one another by drawing commands that can be stored for ready access in the future.

33 Comments

  • gandaf007

    Posted Jul 10, 2009 12:18 pm PT

    @cit

    So what if new player enjoy it more than old players? I understand that the myriad of old Phantasy Star players might be disappointed, but is it wrong that new players can enjoy it also? It seems like that's what you're saying.

  • citronvand

    Posted Jun 18, 2009 6:06 am PT

    Why does the characters have to be kids? Not everyone that owns a DS is under 15 years, sigh. And what about the fans of the original games, when are they going to be treated with a new _real_ Phantasy Star game? Or at least a English remake of I, II and IV. Especially IV.

    Feels like this franchise is walking the same road as Sonic and Megaman. And the sad thing is that Sega gets away with it, because people who have never played PS before will probably buy and enjoy this game, hence Sega gets $ and the game will be considered a success. However, the fans that loved the original Series will get nothing except a big finger from SEGA. The same thing happened to the Fallout franchise. It's sad really.

  • Will47

    Posted May 4, 2009 9:11 am PT

    Can't wait to get this, it' going to rock.

  • janderdarkmoon

    Posted Jan 13, 2009 9:38 pm PT

    GAHHHH!!!!!! Where is Phantasy Star V

  • -Squirrel-

    Posted Jan 12, 2009 4:57 pm PT

    Never played a Phantasy Star before, but I do have to say I am very interested in this one. With this and the new Dragon Quest IX coming to the DS I might not have time to play the consoles. Well I might make some time for Madworld... and House of the Dead.... and maybe the Conduit.... um Klonoa too... yea and Deadly Creatures... and the new Pikmin... and probably Rune Frontier... FF Crystal Chronicles.... a lil' time for Wii Sports Resort too... Ghostbusters... and hopefully Fragile... but that's it... well and Kid Icarus if that turns out to be the Factor 5 secret project.

  • abu_eljod

    Posted Jan 12, 2009 4:17 am PT

    All i care about is to see a remake for Phantasy Star 2 or 4 on either PS3,XBOX360,or PC,and i very much prefer the PC.

  • PixyMisao

    Posted Jan 11, 2009 7:24 pm PT

    I heard Winter 2009 myself, my response to that? A whole year?!!! Christ Sega, what the hell makes it so difficult to bring a DS game to the US? There wasn't even this much time difference in bringing the original PSO to the US. And whose to say that you won't cancel this US release on us like you did with the Phantasy Star remakes? Bastards. I'm buying Monster Hunter 3 for the Wii on day 1. And if online play for PSZ isn't free, then I may not buy it at all.

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 11, 2009 12:35 am PT

    sweet

  • thismarlasinger

    Posted Jan 10, 2009 9:53 pm PT

    This is really good news for English fans. Hopefully, Zoawird-roz (Not sure of the spelling but it's the awesomely gorgeous Wizard of Oz DS game) will get the same treatment soon!

  • alixkid

    Posted Jan 10, 2009 12:16 pm PT

    Sounds good, how about an rts of Shinging Force now, and make ti good Sega quit dropping the ball.

  • hm360

    Posted Jan 10, 2009 3:20 am PT

    Awesome

  • Tranceplant

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 5:11 pm PT

    Well that's cool! I love Phantasy Star!
    I hope it will be better than Universe...
    But isn't there supposed to be one also on PSP?

  • Statictrance

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 4:16 pm PT

    Seriously... Although phantasy star online will never be as great or personally influential as the original four - phantasy star online consumed hours upon hours of my time. C.A.R.D. revolution was lame, Universe sucked and i don't have great hope for this... Here's for hoping Sega doesn't run yet another classic franchise into the ground through "reinvention" - IE nights/golden axe/the altered beast that was so bad it couldn't even be released in NA/etc.

  • MuscleCarMan

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 3:14 pm PT

    now lets see a remake of Phantasy star IV.

  • rotnem

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 3:11 pm PT

    It doesn't matter what I say. I live in Europe and we get the ass end of games. In America, you guys immediately get the games. People here in Ireland have to wait for several months just to get over here. I'm still waiting for Crono Trigger and the DS version of an old Final Fantasy game (the one with the Dragoons) finally came here about 2 months ago.

  • DarkProwl

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 3:10 pm PT

    This will be the first Phantasy Star game I ever get.

  • Apoklitty

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 2:11 pm PT

    sweet i was hoping this would come to na but fall is a while to wait

  • Best1989

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 2:10 pm PT

    Phantasy Star ftw....

    Maybe I could finish PSII before this get out....

    .

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 2:05 pm PT

    good but im looking for some new Wii games right now.

  • nynthninja

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 1:56 pm PT

    nintendoboy16

    Phantasy Star Online that was the good start

  • nintendoboy16

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 1:37 pm PT

    Never played a Phantasy Star, I think this is a good start.

  • Cephrien

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 1:21 pm PT

    Great game. I'm playing the japanese version on my DS right now. The graphics are way better than they look in screenshots n'stuff. It's more like chibi PSO than PSU.

  • bbjones98

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 1:03 pm PT

    is that like a mmo on the ds

  • jordis5

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 1:00 pm PT

    yes thank you!

  • re4leonkennedy

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 12:54 pm PT

    I loved PSO:Episodes 1 and 2. I played that game more than any other game(beat it on the hardest difficulty in both episodes). Hopefully Sega makes it a great game.

  • calvinx6

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 12:24 pm PT

    Yes bring it on.

  • WASDPwned

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 12:11 pm PT

    Seemingly has the same setup as Phantasy Star Online did, so I have a feeling it's going to be a decent game. I couldn't dare touch PSO again on any other console, however i'd certainly give it a go on the DS.

    Too bad the graphics are going to be so horrid.

  • starfoxmcleoud

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:36 am PT

    Sounds great, but every "hunter" or "guardian" knows that if the wifi is free there's a good chance this one is more likely to be overrun by kids and pre-teen adolesents. Seriously though, after the crap on PSO and PSU, do parents really just enter in their credit card number to any pay2play mmo their kid wants and not care about it?

  • TalesofRaGnArOk

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:32 am PT

    Phantasy Star Zero: Monster Hunter for the DS
    Best news since ....Monster Hunter thri for Wii

  • SemiMaster

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:26 am PT

    Please tell me this wont suck like Phantasy Star Universe...

  • 1425678786655

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:25 am PT

    phantasy star for ds and wifi hell ya, hopefully it will be better then PSU

  • Tenjikuronin

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:17 am PT

    Sounds cool.

  • coolcaz888

    Posted Jan 9, 2009 11:12 am PT

    Awesome! I'm glad they are Releasing it in NA. Fall isn't as bad as I expected so I'm cool with that. They need some more JPN games released here!!!

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